6 flood insurance claims·$334,857 paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Ozark County, Missouri. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash floods and standard floods dominate the recorded flood history in Ozark County, accounting for 126 flash flood events and 155 flood events over the last 30 years, resulting in one flash flood fatality.
Recent events illustrate these risks, including localized flash flooding and severe thunderstorms that occurred in June 2025, as well as multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms between April 4th and April 6th, 2025, which brought 8 to 10 inches of rain with localized amounts up to 12 inches, causing significant flash flooding and minor to moderate river flooding across south-central Missouri.
Properties located within FEMA Flood Zone A should pay the most attention to these risks. Historical National Flood Insurance Program records for Zone A show 5 claims with an average payout of $66,971 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2017, with 4 claims and $274,588 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
112 NOAA storm reports from Ozark County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 23, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Nov 3, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
281 since 1996: 126 flash floods and 155 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 24, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 19, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 15, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jun 30, 2025. Thunderstorms occurred during the early morning hours across central Missouri, producing localized flash flooding. A larger complex of thunderstorms with severe winds moved through southwest Missouri during the afternoon and evening hours of June 29th, producing widespread damaging winds from Dade County, southeast into the Springfield metro area and then southeast into Taney County. Widespread power outages and d…
Flood · Apr 30, 2025. Slow moving showers and storms moved over portions of the Ozarks that had received multiple rounds of heavy rainfall over the preceding week. This lead to flooding on several low water crossings and caused some rivers to reach minor flood stage.
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2025. Thunderstorms occurred during the early morning hours across central Missouri, producing localized flash flooding. A larger complex of thunderstorms with severe winds moved through southwest Missouri during the afternoon and evening hours of June 29th, producing widespread damaging winds from Dade County, southeast into the Springfield metro area and then southeast into Taney County. Widespread power outages and d…
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2025. Showers and thunderstorms produced between 1 and 3 inches of rainfall across portions of the Ozarks which caused localized flooding.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Ozark County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.